Unveiling the Chemistry Behind the Formation and Evolution of Earth in "The History of Earth" Documentary

The documentary “The History of Earth” provides the information on the formation of the planet Earth and the emergence and development of life. The film states that the Earth looked like hell at the early stages of formation. The temperature of the surface was over 2000 F. According to the presented movie, the space debris, which contained the crystals of water, bombarded the Earth and, as a result, created the pools of water. Later on, the tiny islands were formed and united creating the first continents. The movie claims that 3,9 billion years ago the meteorites brought carbon and amino acids, which were dissolved on the bottom of the ocean. As a result, the water of the ocean became a “chemical soup,” which made the basis for the formation of life on the Earth.

After such a long formation of the crust and the ocean, the defining moment in the history of Earth was the appearance of primitive bacteria, which are considered the first form of life. It should be noted that the presented documentary does not give the answer to the eternal question, namely, how these chemicals were able to form the first forms of life. However, it shows the detailed process of how one-cell organisms have evolved. The movie emphasizes that these first colonies of microscopic organism used photosynthesis to transform carbon dioxide and water into glucose. As a result, the byproduct of photosynthesis was a release of gas called oxygen, which turned the traces of iron in the ocean into rust and transformed the atmosphere of the Earth.

Meanwhile, the movement of the volcanic islands has led to the creation of a supercontinent. Yet, the movie uses the term “a mysterious force” to explain what caused the movement of these islands. Thus, it is not clear what processes have caused that movement. 750 million years ago, the heat form the Earth’s core initialized the split of the supercontinent and provoked the release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. As a result, it caused acid rains and the longest ice age period in the history of Earth. Due to the certain chemical reactions, an ice was transformed into oxygen. The documentary states that ultraviolet rays of the sun interacted with molecules of water, which resulted in the occurrence of an oxygen peroxide. The increased level of oxygen in the ocean caused the creation of complex life.

It is worth mentioning that the presented movie provides a detailed description of the evolution of life. However, even though the ocean was filled with life, the surface of the Earth was still covered by the radiation. The interaction of radiation and oxygen formed ozone, which covered the Earth and blocked the sun radiation. Thus, the different forms of live started to adapt to the life on surface. The process of animal reproduction was done through an egg, which was the major evolutionary break through. Small lizards evolved in giant reptiles. However, as the movie concludes, this particular stage of evolution of life was stopped by Permian extinction. Sulfur dioxide had filled the atmosphere and turned into sulfuric acid, which burned almost all forms of life. Through the continuous changes of the atmosphere and surface, the species evolved into highly developed mammals, which were the first primitive humans.

To conclude, the presented documentary provides the detailed process of the creation of the Earth and the life on it. The movie discuses chemical processes, which led to the creation of oxygen and ozone. However, even though the presented film uses scientific evidence, it does not explain the emergence of life, Cambrian explosion, and the cause for of the creation of the first supercontinent. Despite that fact, the presented documentary is highly interesting and edifying.